Good news, Game of Thrones fans: the boys (and girls) are back in town—including one fan favorite whom the show would have us believe already met a terrible fate. Remember Tormund and Beric, and how they seemingly perished on the Wall as it crumbled in Season 7’s finale? Turns out we haven’t seen the last of Kristofer Hivju after all.
One fan spotted a bunch of cast members on location in Belfast, including Hivju, whom she photographed standing alongside Dolorous Edd actor Ben Crompton. (She also managed to snap a selfie with John Bradley, who plays Samwell Tarly.) Fans have already spotted most of the show’s principal cast as well, including Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Now that the Thrones train is running once more, nothing can stop it—well, except Harington’s wedding to former Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie, which will evidently halt production for a day so that the cast and crew can attend the festivities.
The Hivju sighting is by far the most exciting beginning-of-production development so far. Sure, for all we know, the actor could simply be filming a flashback, or an extended death scene in which he slowly bleeds out thanks to a fallen icicle—but at the very least we know he’s got at least a few moments of screen time left.
Going into its final season, the HBO juggernaut’s plot points are all, as always, closely guarded secrets. But in the wake of the massive hack the company faced earlier this year, even more secrecy precautions are being taken than ever before. As actor Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos) recently told IGN, he already has all six scripts—but he can’t open them, “because of all the security, and I can’t walk ‘em out.” We’re not sure what that means, but we’re guessing this time around, HBO is not putting any sensitive material on any kind of networked device. Perhaps they have an old Windows 95 computer with a closely guarded password sitting in an Irish basement? Or maybe one of those Girl Tech password journals from the early aughts, which only opens to David Benioff’s voice?
Whatever the method, at least one secret seems to be out: Tormund will be back in Season 8, ice dragons be damned.
Dragonstone, a.k.a. San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Alberto Loyo/REX/Shutterstock.
Casterly Rock, a.k.a. Castle of Trujillo, Caceres, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; from KarSol/REX/Shutterstock.
Dragonstone Beach, a.k.a. Itzurun Beach, Spain.
Left; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO, Right; by Jose Arcos Aguilar/REX/Shutterstock.
Highgarden, a.k.a. Castillo de Almodóvar del Río, Spain.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; from siete_vidas/REX/Shutterstock.
The Dornish Water Gardens, a.k.a. Seville’s Alcazar Palace, Spain.
Left; by Brian Tan, Right; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO.
Braavos, a.k.a. Girona, Spain.
Left; by Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO, Right; from 135pixels/REX/Shutterstock.
King’s Landing, a.k.a. Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Paul Shio.
King’s Landing, a.k.a. Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Left; courtesy of HBO, Right; by Paul Shio.
Great Pit of Daznak, a.k.a. Seville, Spain.
Left; by Botond Horvath/REX/Shutterstock, Right; by Nick Wall/Courtesy of HBO.
Astapor, a.k.a. Ait Benhaddou, Souss-Massa-Drâa, Morocco.
Left; from imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock, Right; courtesy of HBO.
